Week 16: Thanksgiving at Arenal Volcano and La Fortuna Waterfall

Because the boys go to an American International School they have Thanksgiving off like the rest of the U.S. population! We decided to use this extended weekend to go visit one of Costa Rica’s most popular attractions, the Arenal Volcano. Arenal is the largest volcano in Costa Rica and is still active. You cannot get near the top of the volcano, but you can visit the national park and hike through the rain forest to look out points to see the volcano ($15 for adults and $5 for kids). It was a lot of fun, and a lot of walking (2 1/2 hours)! Fortunately, Arenal is about three and a half hours inland from our house, so the temperature is lower than what we are used to. The mornings were much cooler, around 68 to 70 degrees with the temperature rising to about 80 degrees. Since we were shaded in the forest for most of the walk it was pretty pleasant.  Recently here near the coast, we have been experiencing 90 degree weather, so it was a nice break. (note: of course it is always nicer and cooler near the ocean!)

 

La Fortuna Waterfall:

In addition to the Arenal Volcano, we visited La Fortuna Waterfall which are one of the largest (and most popular) waterfalls in the country.  This is a short 15-20 minute drive from Arenal.  The catch is that you have to walk 500 steps down to get to the waterfall-which means you have to walk 500 steps up again!  It was well worth the visit and the walk, even though our calves are still feeling the burn from all of the stairs.  John and Ray tried running up them, which John said he “regrets doing”!  One other note, the water was COLD.  Like Lake Superior/great lakes cold.  I couldn’t go in past my knees (as my lower legs became numb), but the boys seemed to enjoy themselves!

 

 

 

With volcanos, come hot springs!  There are many hot springs in the Arenal area, but we stuck with one that we found we could visit for free.  It was like a hot-tub river-you can see the steam rising off of the water.  Many people were just laying around soaking in the water (probably staying most of the day!); we just had a quick visit.

 

There are MANY fancy hotels and spas to stay at while visiting Arenal; we chose to go a more affordable route through Airbnb and had our our little room with access to a pool, jacuzzi (the first one we have seen in all of our travels), and live roosters.

 

Llanos de Cortes Waterfalls:

Another popular, but less known destination, is Llanos de Cortes Waterfall, which we were able to stop at on our way home from Arenal (about 1 hour and 20 min from our house).  These waterfalls are equally as beautiful as La Fortuna Waterfall, with a lot less steps!  Although the area surrounding the falls is not huge, there is ample room to pack a picnic lunch and hang out on the beach and rocks while enjoying the waterfall.  There was even live music-the local guys tried to teach Mark how to play their wooden xylophone, but Mark was not having it!

 

Other interesting notes:

• The drive to Arenal Volcano winds around Lake Arenal (the largest lake in Costa Rica) which at times felt very much like driving through the Alps in Europe.  It’s no wonder we saw this resort on the way!
• And we encountered MANY German tourists; Mark was brushing up on his German so he could talk to a few people (or at least say, “Good morning”!)
• Arenal National Park had a slew of these little guys-they are white-nosed coati.  They came in droves crossing our path while we were walking!

Until next week, Pura Vida!

(from Playa Flamingo)